


First Impressions

by radkoko



Category: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Bad First Impressions, Charles Always Says the Absolute Worst Thing He Could Possibly Say, Erik has Issues, First Meetings, M/M, Poor Charles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-16 19:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4636641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radkoko/pseuds/radkoko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Raven gets in trouble at school, Charles has to come meet with her and the principal. It isn't until their second meeting that Charles gets intrigued by the man, only to scare him off moments later.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Meeting

Charles ran through the halls of the school, he was later than he wanted to be, but there wasn't much he could have done to be here sooner. He was only lucky that classes had been out already or he might have been yelled at by someone thinking he was still a student.

Taking a deep breath from his run, he entered the room that he'd been searching for.

"Mr. Xavier?" a woman asked from her place behind an L-shaped desk, working on filing paperwork.

"Yes, sorry I'm late," he replied trying to regulate his breathing.

The woman smiled at him before leading to another door, "They're waiting through here."

When he entered the room, Charles saw Raven sitting in one of the chairs, arms crossed and slouching low in the chair. The instant that she noticed Charles she startled and straightened up in the chair, trying to look like the polite girl that his parents had instilled in them. The movement seemed to have caught the attention of the room's other occupant, the man sitting behind the large desk that encompassed half the room. Turning away from the computer the man stood up, taking off a pair of reading glasses, and raised a hand for Charles to shake.

"Erik Lehnsherr," he introduced, "Mr. Xavier, please sit down."

"Charles," he responded letting his hand reach for the other and shake it as he found his way to the empty seat.

"Did Ms. MacTaggert tell you why we're here today?" Erik asked him, settling back into his own seat behind the metal plaque that proudly displayed his name and the title of principal.

"I only caught that there was a misunderstanding before I had to head over, would you care to explain Raven?" Charles turned to his sister, wanting to hear from her what had called him away from his class.

He watched her fidget in the chair, aware that she was always desperate to be the perfect little sister in Charles eyes, but he still knew she would tell him the truth.

"I …ummm," Raven hesitated. Her pause told Charles more than words ever could have.

"You used your powers in school," Charles accused her.

"Mr. Xavier, this isn't about her using her powers." Charles turned to the principal to see that he was attempting to hold back his thoughts. Feelings of hurt, anger, and discrimination flew past Charles mind. He avoided getting tangled in them, getting the feeling that 'Mr. Lehnsherr' would not appreciate that.

"Charles…" Raven whispered, silently asking him to not make a big deal out of this.

"Raven, you know you shouldn't be showing off at school," Charles chastised her, sure that he sounded more like a father than the older brother he was. Out of the side of his eye he caught a slight shudder to the plaque at the front of the principal's desk. A telekinetic? Charles wondered to himself. Maybe the discrimination he emanated earlier wasn't towards Raven, but towards Charles who's telepathy was always below the surface, unseen, hidden from those that were less than kind to their mutations.

"Mr. Lehnsherr, if you would be so kind, why are we here then?" Charles turned his attention back to the other man, to get onto why he'd been called away from working with his students.

"We are here, because Ms. Raven decided to punch a boy in one of her classes." Charles felt the heat rise in his cheeks from the embarrassment Raven was projecting at him.

"And have we determined why Raven punched this boy?" Charles asked directing his question more towards her.

"Yes, I'm sure that she would be more than pleased to tell you herself," Mr. Lehnsherr said, eyes darting to the girl who was desperately trying to avoid attention. Charles nodded at her waiting to hear what had happened.

"I was in drama class," she started, Charles realizing that she was going to drag this out as long as she could manage. "We're working on Shakespeare pieces, Twelfth Night, specifically. The one we'll be performing in a few weeks. Well I'm playing Viola, and I wanted to make the character more realistic."

Before she could continue her tale, Charles cut her off, "Raven you aren't supposed to be using your powers in school." He tried to be sound sympathetic this time, but he noticed the lamp on the desk shaking realizing that his mentions of Raven's powers seem to set the principal on edge.

"You agreed to it," she protested, "I only use it in drama class."

"When did I agree to that?" Charles latched onto what she said.

"You signed the paper at the beginning of the school year. Do you ever read what I give you to sign?" she questioned him, causing him to feel his own embarrassment flood forward this time. He wasn't a neglectful guardian like his mother had been to them, but Raven was aware that if she gave him something to sign, like a bad report card, at just the right moment he was less likely to read what she put in front of him.

"You know I do. Please continue the story, and we can do with less fluff this time."

"Fine," she gave in to his request, wordlessly cursing Charles for stopping her derailment of the original conversation. Charles needed to remind her that her thoughts were not quite as silent as she seemed to think.

"He started by telling me that my mutation gave me an unfair advantage in class. That I was using them to get the best parts."

"Lies," Charles protested, he may fawn over his sister, but she was amazing at acting and would have been even without her abilities.

"I tried to not let it get to me, I swear," she pleaded for his understanding, and he nodded for her to continue. "I was able to ignore it all, until he decided to tell me that my mutation was disgusting," she hissed out the word as if it burned. Charles couldn't fault her; the word was far too often thrown at anyone who was different. No matter how often it was said, it hurt just the same.

"Well Mr. Lehnsherr, what is the outcome of this?" Charles asked hesitantly. He didn't want to punish Raven, the boy’s words were enough of a punishment in his mind, although he would have preferred to avoid violence altogether.

"She's a good student, there isn't anything we are going to do," Mr. Lehnsherr replied his anger fading from his face and his thoughts, "We will however need a promise that this kind of thing will never happen again, or we will have to consider a more severe punishment."

"Raven," Charles prompted her, _Promise you won't use your powers too frivolously._

"Double standards…" she mumbled at him, making him smile, "I promise I won't punch anyone else."

Charles rolled his eyes at her, "Close enough," he sighed out, "if we are all done here?"

Another wave of emotions caught Charles off guard, disappointment, and curiosity were pointed directly at him, but he wasn't going to try shuffling through Mr. Lehnsherr's mind to try and see why.

"Yes, you may go."

Charles stood up grabbing Raven's backpack from the floor next to her chair and started towards the door. "Well then, I hope you won't consider this rude, but I expect that I won't be seeing you again. Have a good evening Mr. Lehnsherr."

"Evening, Mr. Xavier, Raven."

They walked out of the room waving to the secretary who appeared to be waiting for them to leave.

"You owe me dinner for this…" Charles teased Raven, glancing back at the principal who had come to the door to watch them leave. He could see the questioning glare from the man, but ignored it in favor of convincing Raven that his favorite dinner would get her back on his good side.

"Sure, sure, what do you want?" Raven said smiling and bumped into Charles' side as they walked through the hallway.

"Do you really need to ask?" He was a creature of habit, whenever Raven wanted to apologize to Charles she always offered to make him food, and whenever she asked what he wanted, his answer stayed the same.

He wrapped his arm around Raven's shoulder, giving her a kiss at her temple before giving a laugh and continuing on their way.

~~~

"Whoa there," Charles heard the voice cautioning him, as he was held up from falling to the ground with his steaming drink.

Looking up Charles saw Mr. Lehnsherr standing inches away from him, one hand on his own cup and the other clenched as if it was holding onto something invisible. He looked around noticing that there wasn't a hand holding him up from toppling backwards, but his own bag resting in the small of his back to keep him upright.

He balanced himself again, watching as Mr. Lehnsherr's hand released it's grip and the bag fell back in place at his hip.

"Telekinetic?" Charles asked taking a sip of his tea looking over the man in his weekend attire of a black turtleneck and dark wash jeans.

"Not quite," came the reply, "It's good to see you again, Mr. Xavier."

"Please call me Charles, Mr. Lehnsherr. It's not like I'm Raven's father, just an older brother."

"Well then Charles, you can call me Erik."

"So... do you want to tell me about this not quite telekinesis?" Charles asked intrigued as always by new mutations. He pointed to an empty table, "I've got some time if you do."

Erik glanced towards the door as if he wanted to leave, but Charles could feel the intrigue rolling around in his mind. "I don't have to be anywhere for a while."

They sat down, Charles pulling out his phone to text Raven that his grading might take him longer that he expected. He turned to Erik giving a wide smile and waited to hear more.

"I have the ability to manipulate electromagnetic fields."

Charles looked at him, his mind racing ahead of the story, "Electromagnetic fields, the possibilities are numerous."

A smirk grew on Erik's face, eyebrows raised almost as if he wanted to hear what Charles thoughts before he was willing to tell him more.

"Okay, so if you really have the ability to manipulate electromagnetic fields, that means ferrous metals right?" Charles asked

"Not just ferrous," Erik replied, grin growing wider.

"Really!" Charles shut his mouth, biting his lip from his outburst. "That's fascinating."

"Lets see…Metallic object manipulation. [Heat?](https://youtu.be/8i2OVqWo9s0?t=1m45s)" Charles asked, getting a nod in return. "If you can heat the objects through the magnetic fields then you should be able to reshape objects into anything else. Change their atomic bonds and adjust their structures?"

"Yes, definite possibilities, although I haven't needed much use of those skills," Erik responded taking in a few sips of his warm drink.

"Absolutely amazing," Charles felt speechless. He loved studying mutations and Erik's seem to have the largest range of possibilities. Could the man levitate someone if they were covered in metal? So many questions.

Charles was a little surprised when he saw a faint blush come across the other man's cheeks, had he embarrassed him?

"You're quite interesting yourself. Why is it so fascinating to you?"

"All mutations have their finer points, yours… well I study genetics, currently teaching and finishing up my graduate studies on the subject. I can say I've never seen an ability like yours," Charles tried to explain what it was that made him want to learn more.

"Why would you be interested in mutations?" Erik eyes hardened as if he gauging Charles' worth on how he answered.

Charles lifted two fingers to his temple, _Because I'm like you,_ Charles sent to Erik's mind.

Instead of releasing the tension, Charles watched Erik stiffen further.

"Right," Erik replied, standing up and gathering his things, "I have to get back."

"Look Erik, I'm sorry…" Charles tried to apologize to the other man, but Erik just continued on his way. He really shouldn't be so surprised by the effect he had on Erik. Charles had been ostracized before for his abilities, but he hadn't expected Erik to be so offended.

Charles sighed, dropping his head to the table. Ohh well, life would go on. Raven would be out of High School in less than two years and hopefully he wouldn't have to see the principal again if she behaved herself.

Lifting his head from the table, Charles stared at the bag at his side and the papers that were stuffed inside. He finally caved, knowing he wouldn't get any work done. Charles picked up his stuff and started to make his way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I made Charles sound even half as smart as he should...


	2. A Second Chance

Sitting in the school auditorium, Charles couldn't help smiling at Raven's performance. She was a beautiful Viola, and her character disguised as Viola's twin, Sebastian, was just as believable.

To pull off a more convincing story, Raven morphed her form to look more like that of her 'twin'. While she made herself a more feminine and beautiful version of the boy playing Sebastian, it was the first time that Charles could actually believe the plot of the story, particularly in the final act. He knew that even the simple adjustments to her face and form made Raven happy. For once she felt like she didn't have to hide a piece of herself.

Of course Charles had to admit that the use of her powers also allowed her to keep the beautiful golden curls. Had he not signed the permission sheet, they would now be shortened to a pixie cut, which Raven and he both would have mourned.

When the intermission came, Charles stood up needing to stretch out. Between grading midterms, and getting stuck in the labs to progress on his own research, this had been the only night he was available. Normally he would have come to multiple performances to support Raven, but she understood that he couldn't manage this time. Even if she had projected her disappointment that he wouldn't be there at every performance.

Charles rotated himself to lean against the seat in front of him, taking the opportunity to observe the other occupants of the auditorium. There were plenty of parents on this Saturday evening. Some teenagers milled about the audience, Charles guessed most were friends of those in the play, while the others that looked less enthusiastic to be there probably had to watch it for a class.

When his eyes reached the far end of the room his breath hitched as he recognized Erik standing with the drama teacher and a parent. He hadn't thought that he would see the principal at the performance, weren't they supposed to be more focused on the sports teams? It had been almost a month since he'd bumped into Erik at the coffee shop, and the moment constantly haunted Charles thoughts.

Unable to tear his eyes away, Charles continued to watch the conversation between the three. A grin crept onto Erik's face, a feature that seemed to suit him.

It was just a moment, but their eyes met before Charles startled and turned away to get back into his seat. He couldn't be sure, but he could have sworn that Erik's grin turned into a frown and his eyes hardened with anger towards Charles.

Now Charles felt worse than before. Was his presence a bother to the principal? How was he going to deal with the next school year and all the following performances of he had to worry about seeing Erik at them.

_Charles..._ Raven's voice rang out in his head. He had been so wrapped up in his thoughts to realize people were beginning to take their seats.

_Charles what's wrong?_ Raven called to him again.

_What? Nothing's wrong Raven,_ he feigned.

_That can't be true Charles. Everyone is feeling your depressed mood, I can see it in them and I know you well enough._

Charles bit his lip, he'd let himself project the stress and worry from meeting Erik's eyes. He took a moment to think about Raven and her performance in the first act. Trying to calm himself so that she would be able to perform just as well in the second act.

For a moment it felt as if the audience let out a breath that they simultaneously held in.

_Thanks Charles,_ Raven replied to his change of mood.

_Sorry about that. Now go be amazing, I can't wait to see the rest._ He sent her the warmest feelings of his confidence and pride in her work.

Charles was lucky that he didn't have to force those feelings as the play went on. Raven's second half performance outshone all her others.

When the cast came up for curtain calls he couldn't help himself in standing up for her, cheering as loud as he could when she curtsied.

As soon as the curtains closed he walked out to his car to grab the bouquet of flowers that he had gotten for her on his way to the school. From the last few shows he'd learned she was rarely the first out of the dressing rooms so he took his time wandering back into the backstage area to wait for her.

Charles was leaning up against the wall watching as Raven exited the hallway that lead backstage. She looked absolutely ecstatic when their eyes met. Starting towards him, she was stopped part way when a tall lanky boy that looked about her age started talking to her. Charles couldn't help smiling when the boy held out a single rose to her and blushed bright red. Taking the rose from him, Raven tiptoed up giving him a small kiss to his cheek before continuing towards Charles.

"You were amazing," he said holding out the flowers for her, which only made her smile grow. Once Raven took them from him, Charles pulled her into a hug and gave her a kiss on her forehead. Glancing over her head Charles could see the boy from before watching him with some expression between jealousy and nervousness.

"Boyfriend that I don't know about?" Charles asked pulling away, but keeping an arm around her waist. He couldn't help feeling disappointed that he'd never been told about the boy.

"Who Hank? No…" Although Raven seemed to protest the idea, he couldn't tell if she was interested in the boy or not.

"So I don't need to go big brother on him then," he teased.

"Please no…" she seemed embarrassed by the concept that he could ever try intimidating a boyfriend for her, "Besides even your weak attempts at it would scare him away." That gave him the answer that she did have some feelings for the boy.

He started walking towards Hank, pulling Raven along from where his arm was around her waist.

_What are you doing Charles?_ she hissed at him.

"Hello Hank, it is wonderful to meet you. I'm Charles," he said holding out a hand to shake.

"Yeah…" Hank replied tentatively shaking Charles hand.

"My sister has told me so much about you." He could see the jealousy leave Hank's face, replaced with worry.

"She has?" he questioned.

"Ohh ye-" Charles started to reply before Raven pushed him away.

"Stop!" she shrieked, batting at his arm to get him to leave them alone. Charles chuckled to himself as he walked away, leaving her to make the situation work out.

_You're welcome,_ he sent to her, stepping out into the night air while he waited.

He noticed that most of the audience had left; a few parents with their children who were in the cast and crew were the last to filter out. He enjoyed the silence once they had gone. Not pure silence, that would have made him nervous, this was just the right amount. He could ignore the thoughts of the few people that were still around, letting their white noise relax him. Looking up at the stars, Charles took in a few deep breaths of their beauty.

When he lowered his head back to eye level, he caught the figure waiting just at the edge of his vision. Snapping his head towards the figure when he realized it was someone he recognized. Erik.

Taking a gulp he knew he couldn't ignore the man now, but it still terrified him to think how the man had reacted last time they talked. How would he react this time?

"Good Evening," he offered up.

"Hello Charles," Erik replied walking closer to stand next to Charles.

They stood there for a moment in silence, Charles not wanting to take the lead in the conversation.

"I…" Erik started, hesitating before he continued, "I wanted to apologize for the way I acted last time."

Charles sighed out the breath he was holding, "It's quite alright, I should know better than to do that to people. Raven is the only one that has ever accepted it and even she prefers me to stay out of her head."

"You shouldn't have to be ashamed of your powers," Erik growled out.

Charles wasn't sure how to respond to that statement. Everyone who had ever known about him seemed to feel the exact opposite, not to mention Erik's previous reaction didn't support what he was saying now.

"But-"

"Charles!" Raven came racing out from the hallway with Hank following behind. "We've got to get to the Cast party, come on!"

He turned towards her, face scrunching up, "Whose fault is it that we're running late?" he chided.

Raven gave him a pout, not saying anything just turning her eyes towards him. He regretted teaching her that look when they were younger.

"Fine," Charles conceded, "Get your stuff to the car, I'll be right there. Hank are you coming with us?"

The boy straightened up and glanced between Charles and Raven, getting an encouraging nod from Raven. "Yes, please."

Charles smiled handing his keys to Raven. He watched them walk towards the car before turning his attention back to Erik. "It looks like I must be on my way."

"Charles," Erik called before he could get far, "I want to continue our conversation."

"I'm sorry Erik, I can't right now." Charles looked towards the car where his sister was putting her bag in the trunk.

"Coffee sometime soon, to make up for last time?" Erik offered.

Charles felt the smile on his face grow, "I would like that…" he started walking away again before he stopped.

"Wait, umm," Charles felt around his pockets to remember where he'd put his phone. He pulled it out, unlocked it, and passed it to Erik, "Give me your phone number. It's been a bit hectic around the university recently, but I'll get in touch when it settles down. If that works for you?" Charles asked tentatively. Erik nodded and started to type in the numbers, before saving the contact and passing the device back. Charles didn't want to admit how much he enjoyed the feeling as their fingers touched when Erik placed the phone back in his hands.

"Good night, Charles," Erik said giving him a nod as he headed towards the parking lot.

"Good night, Erik," Charles replied.

"What took you so long?" Raven whined at him from the passenger seat once Charles had made it back to the car.

"Nothing," he responded, trying to not make a big deal out of the conversation.

"Really?" she questioned him. Even without looking at her, Charles could picture the face Raven was giving him. Charles wasn't interested in giving her details when he wasn't sure what was happening himself, and especially not in front of Hank, who he didn't know, sitting in the back seat.

"Where am I going?" he asked, derailing her questioning. Charles could hear in her thoughts that she wasn't convinced, but chose to ignore her questioning.

"The Italian restaurant down the street, they've got the backroom set aside for us." 

"Alright, lets be on our way." Charles backed out the car and headed toward the party that was sure to be full of teenagers far too happy with their final performance, and a few other parents whining about their lives. The things he did for his sister...

~~~

Charles stared at the phone in his hand, thumb hovering over the text that would start a call to Erik.

He was hesitant to make the call, even though he had been looking forward to the chance to continue their conversation. Erik's change of demeanor after the play had intrigued Charles enough to hear what else the man had wanted to say.

Charles deliberated calling Erik since his schedule had cleared up at the beginning of the week. Two weeks had passed since the play before he was even able to look at his phone and contemplate a call.

"Charles," Raven called through the halls.

He sighed at her timing, surely serving to dilute his resolve. Charles threw down the phone on his bed, deciding he would have to get back to it later.

Walking through the hallway Charles glanced at Raven's open door, but didn't see her there. He looked around the corner catching a glimpse of her at the kitchen counter.

"Yes?" he asked walking up behind her, staring at the papers spread out on the bar.

"Help... We're doing genetics in my biology class. I know you're always talking about it, but I'm lost," she explained.

Charles laughed at her, "I'm so glad to hear that you listen to me." He sat himself down at the chair next to her and started looking over the papers, "Are you sure you want my help?" he teased.

She sighed, "Yes. I wouldn't have called for you if I weren’t willing to get a lecture on things far beyond the level of high school biology. Anyway, I have a test next week and I'd rather an over enthusiastic lecture from you now than one later when you have that disappointed puppy look after I've failed a test in your field of study."

"Can't argue with that," Charles smiled at her, knowing she was right. He'd far too often tried to teach her about what he studied, but her attention always waned before he got more than 5 minutes into his rambling.

They sat there for two hours going through Raven's homework, and Charles giving her far too much information on the remaining chapter.

When she whined that she couldn't take any more information into her brain, Charles conceded his attack of endless facts.

"Okay, we'll stop for today. Come on I'll take you out for anything you want." Charles watched her tired eyes brighten with his offer. "But this weekend we should go over your work again to make sure you're ready for that test."

"Agggh," Raven groaned at him, making him chuckle at her reluctance to continue the influx of information.

"I'll be right back," Charles said trekking back to his room to pick up the discarded phone.

Tapping the button on the side, Charles saw the message on the screen indicating he'd missed three calls and was left two voice messages.

Unlocking the phone he opened the missed calls list surprised by the name staring back at him.

"Erik?" Charles questioned the phone as if it could answer him.

Tabbing over to his voicemail he saw the two messages waiting for him. Charles played the first one, holding the phone up to his ear and waited to hear what Erik had to say.

"..." The first message held nothing but a few moments of silence and a man coughing in the background.

Charles pulled the phone away, not sure if he should laugh or be weirded out, especially considering he hadn't given Erik his number in exchange that night.

He deleted the message and started the next one up.

"Hello Charles." Erik's voice filtered through the phone then paused for a few moments, "I know you said that you might be busy for a while, but I had to make sure I hadn't messed this up again." The last part came out more mumbled than the rest. Charles couldn't help the smile grow on his face.

"Well that was all, sorry I missed you." With that the line went dead and the message stopped.

Hearing the disappointment in Erik's voice gave Charles the courage to call the man back. Going back to his contacts page, he found Erik's name just about to press the button.

"Charles! I'm hungry...where are you?" Raven's voice called through the halls once again.

"Damn," Charles cursed, locking the phone before slipping it into his pocket. He found his way back to Raven, so they could make their way to his car and towards dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remembered I wanted to share a cool magnet video which shows how electromagnetic fields melt metal. I inserted it into the last chapter where Charles is talking about it.  
> For anyone that read the Chapter before I added it, you can see it here… https://youtu.be/8i2OVqWo9s0?t=1m45s


	3. Third time round

Charles retreated to his room, leaving Raven to herself.

He fell back onto his bed, relaxing before he reached into his pocket for his phone. Taking a deep breath Charles unlocked the device and pressed the call button before he could talk himself out of it, or Raven managed to interrupt for a third time.

Listening as the rings echoed in his ear.

"Hello?" Erik answered.

Charles' words caught in his throat, swallowing audibly before he is able to respond. "Good evening Erik."

"Charles," Erik's voice seemed strained with the response.

"My apologies for missing your call earlier, I was helping Raven with school work. I will say I'm surprised to receive a call from you, how did you get my number?" Charles' curiosity was getting the better of him. He waited, getting the idea that Erik wasn't too fond of answering.

His response was short and void of details, "School records."

Charles bit down on his lip, but his laugh still rang out.

"Did you think you had scared me away that badly?" Charles asked. Rarely had he met someone that cared when he had been offended.

Charles listened, waiting for a response, but none came.

A frown replaced the smile that had been on Charles' face. Deciding to change the topic Charles started talking to fill the silence, "I had been meaning to call you tonight, but I was nervous."

"You?" Charles heard the accusing tone from Erik.

"Yes, I can be nervous. If you haven't noticed, I usually start talking far more than my fair share when I am." When the laugh came through the phone Charles smiled again. "I should give my thanks for you calling first. Now about that discussion you wanted to continue…"

"Saturday?" Erik offered.

"2 o'clock, same place?" Charles continued.

"I think I can manage that," the reply was slow, but Charles could almost feel the release of tension from Erik.

"I shall see you then. Good night, Erik."

"Good night, Charles."

~~~

When Charles entered the coffee shop he could feel the anxious nerves radiating off of Erik. His fingers tapping a pattern against the table’s top as if it would change the waiting. Erik faced the door to the café watching each person that entered, as if judging them with each step.

"Hello Erik," Charles said as walked up and pulled the empty seat left for him.

"Charles," Erik sat up straighter, looking a little too proper for his weekend clothes.

"Are you doing well?" Charles asked, his propriety encouraging him to check how the other man was doing since their phone call.

"I... I'm good," Erik's replies were still stiff and guarded, but Charles had to guess it was a step forward to just get an answer at all.

"Have you already ordered?" Charles wondered if he'd be doing most of the talking even though it had been Erik who had invited him out.

"Not yet. I wasn't sure what you wanted."

"Ohh?"

"Well, I did offer as an apology, it felt right to get your drink for you," there was a small grin tugging at the corner of Erik's mouth reminding Charles of the last time they'd met. He wanted to end their conversation with that smile once again on Erik's face.

"Umm," Charles looked at the menu to stall himself from doing anything foolish. He knew this cafe far too well, spending weekends here grading endless papers, but he could pretend that he needed a moment to decide. "A chai latte if you would."

Erik stood up "Of course."

Charles watched as his companion walked up to the counter and gave their order to the man behind the counter.

As Erik went digging into his pockets for the money, the man behind the counter caught Charles looking and waved. The wave caught Erik's attention, turning his head to watch as Charles waved back to Darwin.

Charles wasn't sure what it was, but he almost felt embarrassed for being his usual over friendly self. He dropped his hand to the table and turned his head away. It wasn't until he heard the chuckle from the counter that he could dare himself to look back at Erik smiling to Darwin behind the counter.

A spike of jealousy went through Charles as he tried to figure out what had been said between them to get that laugh and smile from the man, jealous that it hadn't been him.

He continued to face away from the counter, waiting for Erik to come back to their table.

"One chai latte," Erik commented as the steaming cup was placed in front of Charles.

"Thank you," Charles replied turning his best smile towards Erik. He watched the smile on Erik's face turn, lips pursed tight.

What had Charles done now? He felt his smile fall.

They both sat quite sipping from their drinks, avoiding eye contact. Charles couldn't figure out where to start, everything he did seemed to set Erik on edge and he expected his prodding to begin the conversation wouldn't help.

By the time he was halfway through his drink, Erik looked as if he was finally getting the nerve to talk.

"When I was in High School, I didn't have many friends. There was only one person that I was close to." He paused again, although Charles wasn't sure whether it was to gain courage or to remember the details exactly. "I manifested when I was younger, about 12 years old, my friend manifested our sophomore year of High School. That didn't bother me of course. I would say it was surprising enough that I was friends with her before hand, seeing as the treatment towards me from any human has always been fear and disgust.

“She found out that she was a telepath when she started overhearing students during tests. They were stressed and thinking too loudly about each question in front of them. It was fine for a while, but she didn't have boundaries, she had grown up with me saying that powers were something to be used, not hidden away, not ignored, and so she used them frequently. Teachers were convinced that we shouldn't have pop quizzes, she made sure we never got detention even when we were being complete delinquents."

Charles laughed at Erik's word, receiving a questioning glance from him. "Sorry…I didn't…" Charles bit his lip, but still couldn't stop himself from smiling at the thought. "I'm not sure that I can see you as a delinquent. You seem so strict, very fitting of your principal persona."

He was glad when Erik smiled back at him, "Sorry to disappoint you, but I was not a good student. My friend and I cut class, smoked at school, and fought other kids, very stereotypical bad kids."

"Good to know…" Charles continued to smile, before encouraging Erik to continue his original story. "Your friend?"

"As I was saying… Everything started fine, we were happy to use our abilities to our advantage, most of the other students didn't even notice her telepathy when she was using it on the teachers, but then she started changing. She started using it against the other students, ostracizing anyone she didn't want in her little group, making couples break up, delving into people's heads to make them tell their deepest secrets. It didn't really hit me that it was wrong until she started to use her telepathy against me. Again it started out innocent, talking in our heads instead of passing paper notes, cheating on tests…" Charles watched Erik clench his jaw, knowing that they were finally getting to the crux of where his issues lie.

"My parents died when I was young…it was when I manifested actually. We were in a car wreck and I was able to start pushing aside the metal to get out of the car. I was desperately trying to pull the metal of the car away from my mom's side of the car when some stranger grabbed me and pulled me away. I was so focused I hadn't seen the fire starting around the car, and just after they pulled me away…the car exploded."

Charles' breath was caught in his throat through the whole story. He could feel the emotions radiating from Erik, each memory from that night laid out on the surface of his mind for Charles to watch. Feeling a warm hand embrace his cheek, Charles felt Erik's thumb rubbing against his cheekbone where tears were beginning to fall. "Erik, I didn't-"

"I know." Erik gave him a sad smile in return, seeming to know that Charles had seen it all, but accepted that Charles hadn't been prying for it. The hand dropped back down to the coffee in front of Erik, probably getting cold as he told his story.

"Emma…she went looking for those memories. I had been moody all day, since it was the anniversary of their death and she just went in to find out why. We were teenagers, so of course she had her own parental issues, and decided she should harp on mine. She taunted me for crying when I had ‘freedom’ from them, that I should be happy that I didn't have to deal with their disappointment in their delinquent son. She threw memories at me of her own father's hate of her mutation saying my parents would have done the same thing." Erik sighed mostly to himself. Charles could see there was some spark of regret there. "I told her off, said she was repulsive for using her powers against another mutant and ignored her for weeks. It was almost like when couples break up, both doing worse things as a rebellion against each other. She used her powers more blatantly, letting the whole school know what she was and that she could manipulate any little thing they did. In reality I just sulked in a corner. I started ignoring the teachers not doing any work in class; I only went to school to piss her off.

"It was a few weeks later at some senior's graduation party, when someone used her telepathy against her that I realized what a jerk I'd been to someone who was supposed to be my best friend. Some jock had found a drug that muddled telepathy but left the person fully cognitive of everything. The guy swore he just wanted her to feel the same as every other human at the party, but when I found them in a room with her trying to fight him off I snapped. He got thrown against the wall by his belt, and a few cuts and bruises from any metal I could find. I grabbed Emma and ran us as far from the house as I could."

Charles looked down at his cup, wishing that he'd had a friend like Erik when he was in school.

It wasn't until Erik continued, that Charles found the courage to look back at him. "Well, we made up. It wasn't hard to go back to the way that things had always been, but we both decided to be less difficult. Staying in class, no more smoking in the school bathroom. We came to an agreement that she would stay out of my head as long as I talked to her… she admitted that she had been looking for a fight that day, and apologized for what she said about my parents."

Erik put his coffee up to his lips, cringing at the small sip he took before turning the cup nervously in his hands.

"I guess I've never really gotten over that intrusion. It's a bit terrifying when someone can just look in at anything you don't want them to see… even when you know they won't." Charles felt Erik's apology sit there at the tip of his tongue. "Charles, I am sorry for how I reacted. I've been on the other end of someone reacting the way that I did, and it isn't pleasant. I didn't mean to do that to you."

Charles huffed out a laugh, "It's okay…really. I mean I think I've gotten to know far more about you than I might have otherwise." He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, hating himself for making a joke about their conversation when it had been so serious. "Sorry…that was…I don't do well with such strong emotions. Especially when they aren't mine. I've always had a terrible habit of trying to make jokes if something gets too serious, but that probably has to do with my own history." He paused seeing that Erik was curious to hear more. "That tale should wait for another time…"

The silence settled between them again, Charles nervous to say the wrong thing again. "Thank you, for telling me why," he finally managed. Receiving the hint of a smile and a nod from Erik in return.

"So…can I ask what you and Darwin were talking about earlier?" Charles asked nodding towards the man behind the counter, looking for a distraction from the silence.

Erik looked behind him at the server, as if to remember what Charles was talking about. "Ohh, Darwin." Erik turned back to Charles, a genuine smile returning to his face and a slight pink tinge to his cheeks. "He was telling me that you were a very good person, to which I agreed. Then he told me that I would never get served here again if I scared off his favorite customer."

Charles felt the heat rise in his own cheeks, "I don't think you could scare me away…" he admitted under his breath.

Erik seemed to have heard him since he took the opportunity to respond, "If I haven't managed it yet, I don't know what could."

Charles laughed a little, glad to be sitting there with Erik enjoying the moment.

~~~

  
-2 months later-

"Ohh god," Raven whined as Charles was getting dressed for his date. "Why, I must ask, are you dating my principal?"

Charles started buttoning the vest that Raven had given him a few years ago. She said it was stylish, and at the moment he quite agreed with her. "Raven…It could be worse…" Charles knew that was the wrong thing to say, but it just fell out of his mouth.

"Really? 'It could be worse' that's your defense?" Even though she was mad at him she bat his hands away from the lint that he was trying to pick off his stomach. She pulled it away then turned him around to cinch up the back of the vest so that the front lay flat across his chest without any wrinkles.

"What do you want me to say Raven? I'm sorry…"

"Don't say that," she said with disappointment in her voice, spinning him back around to face her, which was starting to make Charles feel dizzy. "Look, you're my big brother, I want you happy, but seriously do you understand how talk goes around schools? Everyone is going to be talking about the principal and my brother dating, they're going to mock me…"

"I like him."

"I know Charles…" She grabbed him tight, and he put his arms around her returning the hug.

When the doorbell rung, Raven jumped away and started running towards the door. "I'll get it!" she yelled already halfway to it.

Charles looked in the mirror flipping his bangs out of his eyes, and giving himself a nod of approval. He slipped on a pair of shoes and walked down the hallway towards the front door where Raven was smiling at Erik who was standing just inside the open door.

"You look wonderful," Erik said grabbing one of Charles hands, and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Charles looked Erik up and down. While Charles had gone for the jeans with a button up and vest look, Erik dressed himself with a V-neck shirt under a sports jacket and simple black trousers. Everything about the moment seemed right to Charles.

"Shall we?" Erik asked, heading back out the front door when Charles nodded to him.

"Raven will you be okay?" he asked before joining Erik outside.

"Charles, I'm 16, I think I can handle a few hours alone by myself. I won't throw a party and trash the place I swear." He looked at her, debating whether he should use his telepathy to see if she was lying to him, but knew that she wouldn't.

"Okay, them I'm off."

"Ohh Charles…" Raven started catching his attention before he made it out the door. "I might have been exaggerating a little bit about being mocked by the other students…" He cocked his eyebrows at her, waiting to hear where this one would be leading. "I’ll probably start getting requests to sneak pictures of you two."

"Raven!" Charles hissed, not sure that he'd be able to handle teenage girls fawning over him and Erik. He defiantly turned on his heels and left Raven standing at the door.

As Charles reached Erik standing partway to the car, an arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him closer. Looking up, Charles watched as Erik leaned down to give him a deep kiss, that he was grateful waited until they were out of sight of his sister.

"His curfew is 10 o'clock!" Raven yelled through a fit of laughing, as if she'd been watching them.

Erik pulled away chuckling under his breath as he rested his forehead against Charles'. After a moment he pulled away, and turned his head towards the front door. "Good night, Raven…" It may have sounded like he was joking back at her, but there was an edge to it telling her to leave them alone. A message she seemed to get bright and clear when Charles heard her running away and slamming the door shut.

"At least she approves…" Erik said as he started walking them towards the car.

Charles laughed, "She's not your sister. You should have heard her earlier. She didn't approve until you showed up."

"We make a nice pair."

"That we do.” Charles stopped and pulled Erik down into another kiss that wouldn’t be interrupted.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [First Impressions (the girl booty remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7961080) by [letosatie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/letosatie/pseuds/letosatie)




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